Dear Yankee Girl: Ombre Heart

Tutorial, My Debut Post

Januar y 30, 2014 7:11 AM
b y Yankee Girl Yummies

[EDITOR'S NOTE: It takes a small community to keep a large

community like Cookie Connection alive with content, which is why
I'm so completely thrilled to be adding another regular contributor
to the site. I'm sure many of you already know our newest featured
b l o g g e r - K a r i A r r o y o a k a Ya n k e e G i r l Yu m m i e s - f o r h e r a m a z i n g
cookie work posted here on Cookie Connection and elsewhere online.
S h e ' s a t o p - fl i g h t d e c o r a t o r w i t h a s t r o n g g r a s p o f m a n y
techniques and an amazing sense of color and design, which make
her ideally suited to author this column.

W h i l e h e r d e b u t p o s t , b e l o w, i s a d e p a r t u r e f r o m w h a t w i l l b e h e r
standard question-and-answer format about decorating techniques, I
think it provides a great intro to Kari and her talents. Plus, it's
p e r f e c t l y Va l e n t i n e s - y ! E n j o y. ~ J M U ]

Here it is. My very first blog post on Cookie Connection. It's exciting, right?!

My goal for this blog is to have it be a place where you can ask technique
questions and get focused, in-depth help with decorating cookies. For example, say
you are struggling with the wet-on-wet technique. Shoot me a message, and I'll do
a t u t o r i a l o n i t . T h i n k o f i t a s a " D e a r A b b y " c o l u m n - w e ' l l j u s t c a l l i t " D e a r Ya n k e e
G i r l " ! Yo u c a n h a v e a l l o f m y c o o k i e s e c r e t s . T h e c a t c h b e i n g t h a t y o u h a v e t o p u t
up with my corny jokes.

S o, yo u ' ve ma de it t h is f ar. Mi gh t a s we ll ke ep re ad in g a bo u t m y o mb re he a rt
technique.
Once upon a time, I was inspired by Pinterest . . .

OK. Maybe not once upon a time. Maybe, just maybe, it's a daily occurrence.

Regardless of the numerous hours that I may or may not spend on Pinterest, I saw
a heart made from old wine corks painted in various shades of pink. I'd like to think
that it somewhat resembled the heart cookie above! I loved that cork heart and
immediately knew that it needed to be "cookied". Here's how I decided to go about
it.

The setup:
 What you're going to need:
iced and dry cookie
nonpareils (aka drages, the 3-mm size) in various shades. I chose white,
light pink, and pink for mine.
clear piping gel OR colored royal icing
toothpick
tweezers

A few disclaimers to get out in the open before we get started:

1. This is a tedious cookie design. That being said, when I was deciding on the
design for the remainder of the set, I went simple. Very simple. Think of it as
keeping the focus on the "main attraction".
2. You c a n b u y n o n p a r e i l s i n j u s t a b o u t a n y c o l o r i m a g i n a b l e . I c o l o r e d t h e m
myself because I have limited access to cool things like colored nonpareils. If
yo u h a ve que s t i o n s a bo ut h o w I co l o r t he m, th a t w o u ld b e a G R E AT t op i c f o r yo u
to ask me about!
3. I u s e d c l e a r p i p i n g g e l t o a t t a c h t h e n o n p a r e i l s t o t h e c o o k i e . Yo u o n l y n e e d
a t e e n y, t i n y, l i t t l e b i t . Too m u c h = b a d t h i n g ! B l e e d i n g o f c o l o r s , n o t d r y i n g , e t c .
I also put the completed cookies in front of my countertop heater to expedite the
d r y i n g . Yo u m a y a l s o u s e r o y a l i c i n g b u t I w o u l d c o l o r i t t o m a t c h t h e n o n p a r e i l s .
O t h e r w i s e , i t j u s t l o o k s m e s s y.
Let's get started!
Start at the bottom of the cookie and work up. I used the tweezers to pick up the
nonpareil and dip the bottom into the piping gel. Use a toothpick as needed for
sticky situations, 'cause it's going to get sticky! It's easiest to work in rows and
follow the edge of the cookie. Once you get about one third of the way up, start to
in te gra te t he ne xt co lo r.

I alternated the colors to give the appearance that the colors were slowly changing
as they went up the cookie.

Keep working that second color up the cookie! Remember to alternate colored
n on pa re ils wh en sta rt in g to wo rk in th a t t h ird co lo r.
As you work on the rounded part of the heart, it gets more difficult to maintain
straight lines. Just try to keep the beads tight and to maintain the shape of the
heart. Allow the piping gel to dry and then you are ready to wow people with your
skill!

For my next post, I want to hear from you! There are so many decorating options,
s o s e n d m e ( D e a r Ya n k e e G i r l ) y o u r q u e s t i o n s ! Yo u c a n c o n t a c t m e t h r o u g h e m a i l
at yankeegirlyummies@gmail.com or Facebook
a t w w w.f a c e b o o k . c o m / Yan k e e G i r l Yum m i e s . O r c o m m e n t o n t h i s p o s t o r m e s s a g e m e
here on Cookie Connection!